Dr Keelin O’Donoghue

Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, MB BCh BAO PhD FRCOG, is an honours medical graduate of University College Dublin (1995) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists (2012). She received her PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the University of London in 2005, following studies on prenatal diagnosis and feto-maternal stem cell trafficking at Imperial College London in 2001-4. She was awarded CSCST by the Irish Committee on Higher Training in 2006 and has been on the Medical Council’s register of medical specialists since then. She completed RCOG sub-speciality training in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital London, and was awarded RCOG sub-specialist accreditation in 2007.

Keelin took up a post as Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist and Senior Lecturer at Cork University Maternity Hospital and University College Cork in 2007. At CUMH, she is the lead clinician for obstetric ultrasound and fetal medicine. She both established and leads the multiple pregnancy and pregnancy loss services at CUMH, and is part of the Perinatal Medicine team. She developed an ABA-certified midwifery teaching programme in third trimester obstetric ultrasound, and facilitates the training of sonographers undertaking the UCD Masters in Diagnostic Imaging and Graduate Diploma in Ultrasound. From 2009-2014, Keelin was Obstetric Lead on the Division of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology at CUMH and was Clinical Director for Women and Children at Cork University Hospital from 2013-2014.

Keelin’s work has resulted in >70 peer-reviewed original papers and >180 published conference proceedings. She is a reviewer for a range of international journals including the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Prenatal Diagnosis, Placenta, the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, PLoS Medicine and Human Reproduction. She is a member of the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society, the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the International Stillbirth Alliance, the Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, and the International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis.

Keelin established the first Irish Masters programme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, which commenced in 2008, and now runs successfully with a full annual intake. She remains the Director of this successful programme along with a leading role in postgraduate education and clinical audit at CUMH, while maintaining a teaching role on the medical undergraduate programme. She is a national trainer for the RCPI in Basic and Higher specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Keelin’s research interests include prenatal diagnosis and screening, early pregnancy failure, clinical obstetrics, epidemiology, pregnancy loss, stillbirth and multiple pregnancy. She heads the multi-disciplinary pregnancy loss research group at CUMH, combining supervising a large group of doctoral and masters students with collaborative clinical research in this area.